The USC Gould School of Law hosts an impressive faculty with a range of academic interests and specialties, from constitutional law to intellectual property, business law to criminal justice. For seven faculty members, their scholarship examines the intersection of law and philosophy, exploring fundamental questions in legal thought. Their research centers around not simply how to describe and interpret a law, but what it ought to be, and why. Spanning moral and political philosophy, private law theory, tax law, torts, family law, international humanitarian law, and feminist jurisprudence, these scholars bring rigorous philosophical inquiry to bear on the legal institutions and doctrines that shape everyday life.
The cohort, most of whom also hold joint appointments in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’ School of Philosophy, has earned widespread recognition for their contributions to the field. Recent highlights include Gregory Keating and Marcela Prieto being scheduled to present at the NYU Colloquium in Legal, Political, and Social Philosophy; Felipe Jiménez and Erin Miller presenting at Berkeley’s Kadish Colloquium in Law, Philosophy & Political Theory; and Scott Altman, Prieto, Miller and Jiménez presenting at the UCLA Legal Theory Workshop. Altman recently published in Ethics and received the 2022 Best Essay Prize from the Journal of Applied Philosophy, while Jeesoo Nam recently had his works accepted in the prestigious publications Analysis and Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy. Jonathan Quong recently published his newest book in March, “Political Philosophy: The Puzzle of Legitimate Injustice,” while Prieto’s book, “The Morality of the Laws of War” received both the 2023 ABILA New Author Award and the American Society of International Law’s Lieber Prize. Keating’s book “Reasonableness and Risk” received the Civil Justice Scholarship Award from the National Civil Justice Institute. The AALS Section on Jurisprudence recognized both Jiménez and Miller, selecting Jiménez for an Article Award in 2025 and selecting Miller as co-winner of the Future Promise Award in 2023. The group also organizes an annual conference on legal theory and maintains active collaborations with legal philosophers around the world.
Meet professors Scott Altman, Felipe Jiménez, Gregory Keating, Erin Miller, Jeesoo Nam, Marcela Prieto and Jonathan Quong as they discuss their research, their paths to Gould, and what they hope students take away from their courses. For more about each individual professor, including their full interviews, click on their photos below.
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